Singer is a company that haunts both our dreams and our Euromillions lists - creating, as it does, classic-looking Porsche 911s, based on the 1980s and 1990s 964 version of the evergreen sports car, but with sixties throwback looks, and a minute attention to detail, quality, and modern performance and usability. Sigh. We want one so bad…
Get in the queue… What's new from Singer?
The latest creation of the California-based company - founded by Rob Dickinson, brother of Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce - is this: the Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet Reimagined by Singer, which is a more 1980s-tinged throwback for a company better known for its 1960s and 1970s-style cars. It follows on from a tin-top model shown last year, and only 75 will be made.
What does Singer do to the car?
Well, it all starts with an original Porsche '964' 911 - that's the version of the 911 built between 1989 and 1994, and which contains enough of the original 1960s structure for Singer to turn it into a visual throwback. Except this Carrera Cabriolet isn't throwing quite so far back, just as far as the early 1980s really. All of the original bodywork will be removed, and the base chassis carefully assessed, repaired and restored where needed, with some subtle re-engineering to uprate the body stiffness.
What about the engine?
What about it indeed? This is no ordinary Porsche flat-six, but 420hp naturally-aspirated beast, with a four-valve head designed for Singer by legendary engine experts Cosworth. There's variable valve timing for a broad spread of power and torque, and Singer is using air cooling for the engine's cylinders, but water cooling for the heads, a trick it learned from its previous experience with the Singer DLS Turbo models, and a trick that Porsche itself used to use in its 1980s Le Mans racers.
The 4.0-litre engine will rev to a dizzying 8,000rpm, and to handle all of that grunt and performance, Singer has carefully designed a chassis-strengthening system, using composite and steel reinforcement.
And the bodywork?
The style of the Singer Carrera Cabriolet is inspired by the early 1980s G-series of 911, but the fact that Singer uses carbon fibre for the bodywork means that the stylistic boat can be pushed out a little further. So this Singer gets wide-body Turbo-style bodywork, and a cleverly designed Z-frame electric folding soft top that's way more sophisticated than anything Porsche offered in the actual 1980s. You can choose from a 'clean' rear end, or a classic 'Whale Tail' spoiler, and there's also the choice of an active moving rear wing for the ultimate in aero efficiency and style.
One final touch is the auxiliary driving lights, which pop up and forward from the centre of the bonnet, an optional touch that seems to pay a small bit of homage to the Porsche 928 with their distinctive pod shapes.
Tuned suspension, one assumes?
Oh yes. There are four-way adjustable dampers with electronic damping control, which can be adjusted from the driver's seat, and they incorporate a nose-lift system for speed bumps and steep driveways. You can also specify carbon-ceramic brakes and 18-inch centre-lock wheels, and Michelin Pilot Sport tyres are standard. There's also a five-way setting for the traction and stability control systems, incorporating Road, Sport, Track, Off and Weather modes.
A bespoke interior, right?
Heck yes. Singer re-imagines the classic 911 interior with modern levels of quality and design, and you can pick your own colour scheme, leather, trim, dial backgrounds and much more. The show car features a cabin picked out in Tangerine with stitched and burnished leather seams and sports seats with velvet corduroy centres.
Singer takes all this stuff really seriously, and so has been testing the cars at Millbrook in the UK, IDIADA in Spain, Nardo in Italy and the Nürburgring in Germany, where the exacting TÜV certification for Singer's services is carried out.
Go on then, how much?
How much you got? Singer doesn't talk list prices, and instead says: "Prices for Singer's restoration services are dependent on the specification requested by each car's owner.” You won't pay less than a seven-figure sum, though, and a chunky one at that. Rob Dickinson, Singer's Founder and Creative Director, explains: "By the mid-1980's the personalisation Porsche first offered for the Carrera Coupe had reached the Carrera Cabriolet, which could be ordered with the wider body of the 911 Turbo but powered by the company's latest, naturally aspirated flat six. Our services reference this car and celebrate another chapter in the evolution of the 911, with the ultimate, open-roof, naturally aspirated G-model 911, reimagined for the twenty-first century. The sporting nature of the Carrera led us to reappraise the period roof mechanism to reduce weight and enable a sleek profile with the roof raised or lowered. The remarkable flat-six brings together our learnings from the last fifteen years and can now be heard more clearly than ever.”